


#10: We're Going to Be Okay

by Winchester_Writer



Series: 10 Times Tony Stark Saved Peter Parker and 2 Times He Couldn't [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 19:22:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20278510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchester_Writer/pseuds/Winchester_Writer
Summary: Peter's sneaking off, but the reason is the complete opposite of what Tony thought it was.





	#10: We're Going to Be Okay

**Author's Note:**

> This one is a lot different! I wanted to write a really sappy and happy fic before the next two come! I hope you like it, even though it is different.

Peter was having a hard time lately, Tony could tell. School seemed like it was going so slow, in Peter's mind. May had died in November and it was now April. The months went by slowly, some days were really good and some days were really, really bad. On those days, Tony would do 1 of 3 things. He would talk to Peter for however long he needed, just mindlessly rambling about random things do his voice drowned out the voice in Peter's head. If that didn't work then he would let Peter cry and hug him for as long as he needed. If worse came to worst, Tony would just lead Peter to his room, get him into bed, and then check on him as much as possible. 

Those days were the worst, for both Peter and Tony. Peter would shake and cry so much that he would make himself sick and without fail, everytime he threw up. Tony hated them because he couldn’t do anything to help his Underoos. Eventually, Peter would come out of it and let Tony hug him as he cried and apologized over and over again. Tony would simply ride through it with Underoos and then make sure he was okay afterwards. 

The panic attacks were taking their toll on Peter. He was gradually losing weight, not eating as much, he was quiet all the time, his face solemn nearly all the time, and he was barely interested in lab days at this point. Tony was getting really worried about the kid. One day though, Tony started worrying even more. Peter wasn’t in his room and he wasn’t anywhere in the tower. He also hadn’t told Tony if he was going anywhere. About 3 hours later Peter snuck back into the Tower and Tony didn’t mention anything about it. If Pete wanted to tell him, he would. 

The sneaking out became a routine thing and all of the sudden, Tony realized he had truly become a dad. He was terrified for Peter, not knowing what the teen was getting into. His first thought was that Pete was turning to drugs for comfort and release from the pain he felt. That’s when Tony decided to start tracking his phone. Peter would walk the same route every afternoon, but as soon as he got to his destination, the wifi and signal on his phone would cut out and Tony could no longer track him. 

Tony was starting to get more and more distant from Underoos. He couldn’t help it. Tony didn’t want to pry, but he was pretty dang sure that Peter was doing something wrong every time he went out. Tony wasn’t hugging Peter as much, he was becoming more distant, and wouldn’t talk to him as much, for fear that he would blow up at him. Peter was noticing it and he realized that Mr. Stark finally was tired of him, he knew it was going to happen eventually. It was a Saturday morning and Peter packed up his clothes. He threw his backpack over his shoulder and glanced around his room one more time. He was going to miss this place. Peter walked out of the Tower, he didn’t bother looking back. 

The apartment felt strange after so many months of not being in it. It was still under May’s name and Mr. Stark had made sure that they still had ownership, just in case Peter ever wanted to stay a night at the apartment or something like that. Everything was covered in a layer of dust and Peter coughed as he sat down on the couch. He decided that some cleaning was in order and got to work. Peter was dead tired by the time he was done so he decided to crash for the night. 

Peter was gone, again, this time he was out at night. Tony had just turned off the tracker on Peter’s phone, he was done. He didn’t want the kid to get hurt, but he also wanted Pete to come and tell him what he has been doing when he sneaks out. Little did Tony know that he had drove the kid away. 

It was the next Tuesday afternoon and Tony was officially freaking out. He had searched high and low for Underoos, scouring the entire state of New York. Peter’s phone must have died because the tracker wasn’t working anymore. As a last ditch attempt, Tony called Ned. 

“Hello,” Ned answered. 

“Ned, this is Tony Stark. Have you seen Peter?”

“Why do you care?”

Tony was taken aback at the question. 

“Because he’s my kid. I care about him.”

“According to Pete, that’s not true.”

“What do you mean, Ned?”

“Peter was saying that you were getting distant, stopped caring about him, so he packed up and moved out.”

“Where is he now, Ned?”

“His apartment.”

The phone was hung up and Tony was flying over to the apartment. 

Peter was in the kitchen, making a sandwich for dinner. It was peanut-butter and jelly, because he barely had any money to buy actual groceries. He was zoned out, his head was being loud today. A sudden bang on the door pulled him back to reality and he looked up, coming face to face with a very angry Tony Stark. 

“What on Earth were you thinking?”

“Mister Stark?”

“No, no. Don’t you dare Mr. Stark me! You disappeared for over three days, no phone call, nothing to tell me that you were alive and safe! I’ve been scouring all of New York trying to find you.”   


“Oh.”

“That’s all you have to say? Just an oh?”

“I just didn't think you cared all that much?”

“You didn’t think I.. Peter, you’re my son. You’ve been living at Stark Tower  since May passed away! Of course I care about you.”

“Then why have you been acting like I don’t exist?”   


“What?”   


“You’ve barely talked to me, you can barely even look at me, Mr. Stark! Why have you been doing that?”

“Why have you been sneaking off everyday? Is it drugs, alcohol, what is it Pete? I thought you knew that you could tell me everything!”

Realization all of the sudden dawned in Peter’s eyes as everything clicked together. 

“Wait, you think I’m doing drugs?”

“Kind of. You sneak off everyday, Pete! What else am I supposed to think?”

“Can I show you?”

“Please.”

Peter grabbed his sweater and threw it on, then walked out the door. The  two strolled in silence and Tony recognized that path. It was the same path that Peter took everyday when he snuck out. They were winding through back-alleys and side-streets. It was taking forever, according to Tony.

“Peter, where are we going?”

“One second Mr. Stark. We are almost there.”

They rounded one more corner and Tony’s mouth dropped so fast and far he  thought it would hit the concrete. 

“This place used to be covered in trash and old drug needles and all that crap. It wasn’t safe for kids, so I fixed it up.”

Tony was still staring in awe. In front of him, the two blocks that used to be trash were now cleaned up. One of the blocks was filled with a playground set and some sand. Kids were running around, swinging on the swings, and playing tag on the playground. The other block was filled with benches and soft chairs. In the back of the lot there were a bunch of easels set up with paint, pencils, and crayons. Children were sitting and reading or doing art, even some teenagers were sitting on the chairs doing schoolwork. 

One of the little girls spotted Peter and ran over.

“Hi Petey!”

“Hi Sarah,” she had to be about 4. 

Peter scooped her up and spun her around. 

“Petey will you play with us?”   


“I can’t today, sweetheart. I have to go to a boring, grown-up meeting. But I can come tomorrow and to make it up to you, I’ll bring a new book to read!”

“Yay!! Can I go down now, Petey? I playing tag!”   


“Of course, Sarah. Have fun, kiddo.”

He set her down and Sarah ran back over to the playground. Tony turned to look at Peter. 

“Pete?”   


“This is what I’ve been doing Mr. Stark. I’ve been working on this for months. I paid for everything and it took a long time to get enough money. Most of the times I’m sneaking out to do work to pay for stuff. When I finally got enough, I set this place up. The kids now have a safe place to play and teenagers can come and do schoolwork. Hannah over there, her dad isn’t the nicest. So now she has a safe place to do her homework. She said that this place is the only thing that got her through 10th grade. Sarah, she’s the sweetest little one in the world. She always asks me to read to her or to play tag. I just wanted a safe place for them.”

“I’m so sorry, Pete.”

“What?”   


“I’m sorry that I assumed something so bad.”

“It’s okay Mr. Stark. I think anyone would have.”   


“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. I’m so sorry.”

All of the sudden, there were tears streaming down Peter’s face.    


“Pete, what’s wrong?”

“I miss her, dad.”

“What?”   


“May. I did this cause of May. I thought I could fill that hole with the kids and seeing them happy. But it isn’t working.”

“Come on, Pete, let’s get you home.”

Tony called the Iron Man suit to him and he grabbed Peter. The two of them flew back to Stark Tower. Peter was having a full on panic attack now. This was one of the bad ones. Peter was crying uncontrollably now. Tony picked Peter up bridal style and carried him into his room. He set him on the bed and Peter immediately pulled his knees to his chest, sobbing. Tony did something different this time. He grabbed the desk chair and turned it so he could sit in it next to Peter. 

“You know Underoos, you’re the best thing to ever happen to me. I was alone before you came along. I had just lost all the Avengers, all of my friends, my family. I didn’t know what I was going to do. But then there was you, funny, sweet, caring, quirky, nerd you. And I remember how much your face lit up when I told you about Lab days for the first time. Remember all you Star Wars references that day? You said you had joined the dark side, that we would rule the galaxy together.”   


Tony kept rambling on and about an hour later, Peter was ready to talk about everything. 

“I shouldn’t have left like that, Mr. Stark.”

“I understand why you did, Underoos. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did.”

“I just, I’ve missed May so much. I thought the project could help and it did. But I guess I was using it to try and fill that hole, but I don’t think it can be filled. It just made me more and more sad.”

“I know, Pete. You can’t fill the hole, it just won’t work. But you can remember May. Remember all the good times and the laughter. The funny moments you had together. How much she larbed you.”

That got a chuckle out of Peter. 

“Any you know, I was thinking. There’s an extra floor in Stark Tower, what if we turned that into a children’s area? I know a lot of the workers here have kids and it could be kinda like a day-care area. Then we could have a school-room with wifi for all the teenagers and kids in school. It would be open to the public and everything.”

Peter looked hopeful at that. 

“I’d like that, dad. On one condition though.”

“What’s that?”   


“Sarah gets to help design it.”   


“Of course!”   


“Thank you.”

They sat in silence for a minute. 

“I”m sorry, dad.”

“It’s okay, Pete. We’re going to be okay.”

Peter hugged Tony and the two sighed, both glad that everything was cleared up. 

3 months later and the May Parker Children’s Floor at Stark Tower was officially open. Kids were running around on the indoor playground, jumping on trampolines, and diving into the foam pit. Teenagers were lounging in the study room, talking and doing group projects. Tony had made sure there were supplies stalked in case some of the kids had to make things like posters, but didn’t have the money to buy the supplies. That had actually been Peter’s idea, as he had been there before. 

Peter and Tony stood side by side and watched all the kids running around. Sarah came bolting up and hugged Peter. 

“Thank you, thank you Petey!”   


“You’re welcome Sarah.”

He whispered something in her ear and she stepped over to Mr. Stark. She wrapped her hands around his waist and hugged him. Mr. Stark was taken aback.   


“Thank you for helping Petey with this, Mr. Stark!”   


“You’re welcome, kiddo.”   


She let go and then looked at Peter. He nodded at her. Sarah tapped Mr. Stark with her hand. 

“Tag, you’re it, Mr. Stark!”   


Peter smiled and then started laughing. Both him and Sarah took off running. Tony didn’t hesitate to run after them. He finally caught up with Underoos and tagged him. Peter dramatically fell to the ground and Sarah came running over to make sure he was okay. 

“Are you hurt, Petey?”

Peter sat up swiftly and tagged Sarah.

“Gotcha!”   


“No fair!”   


Peter laughed and Tony smiled. 

"Yeah," he thought, "we are going to be okay."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment or a kudo!


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